


A Tale of Two Libraries

by BardicRaven



Category: European National Libraries (Anthropomorphic), Libraries (Anthropomorphic)
Genre: But Change isn't always Bad, Fear of Change, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Libraries, Nervous about Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-11 00:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8944711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: The Danish Royal Library was cranky. Feeling overwhelmed, unloved, and stretched nearly beyond bearing.
Then a friend from across the sea gave a new perspective.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oneiriad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneiriad/gifts).



The Royal Library of Denmark was cranky. It was expressed mainly in the form of huge sighs that the uninitiated would assumed were merely gusts of errant wind from door or window, the cold leaking in from the wintery world outside, but the truth was, the Library was cranky.

The crankiness never came out as anything more than that soft wind or a wandering cold spot – that’s how buildings were condemned, after all, and the last thing the Royal Library of Denmark wanted was that.

But the Library wouldn't mind some slowing down on the human’s part. They ran around so much anyway. They knew nothing of what it meant to stand watch, guarding the documents of a civilization, keeping the history and the records safe from harm.

If they had, they might not have been so quick to shove the Copenhagen University Library in just a scant decade or so ago. Combined with no asking of either library, but at least the two of them were old enough that they understood each other, could make the adjustment with only a little grumbling on both parts.

But now?

This was too much.

Too much to ask.

Too much change.

Too fast.

Too much.

Then, it was the Copenhagen University Library. Now, the Danish National Art Library was in the process of being adopted – a slower process, but nonetheless a blending, albeit an incorporation of another sort.

And now… now it was to be the State Library? So… new. So… different. The Royal Library of Denmark wasn’t sure about being able to endure that much.

And it wasn’t as if the Royal Library of Denmark didn’t move with the times. They did! Why, the Danish Internet Archive was kept within the walls here, and if that wasn’t both a sign of importance and of moving with the times – well, what was?

So why were the humans insisting on putting the Royal Library and the State Library together? It would never work. The age, the materials – the State Library concentrated on things like audiovisual media, whatever that was! The Royal Library of Denmark didn’t even know.

Just a sign of how incompatible they were.

But the humans were insisting.

And so the Royal Library of Denmark was cranky.

* * *

And, like many beings in this world, no matter what they are made of – skin, stone, or anything else – when the Royal Library of Denmark was cranky, they complained.

To any who would listen. And, being an anthropomorphic-personification of a building, this meant other buildings.

Specifically, other libraries.

The National ones were the only ones who listened, the only ones who ever replied, the only ones who even vaguely understood.

Smaller libraries just didn’t have the understanding of what it was like to be asked to guard a nation’s true wealth – that of the history, records, and stories of its people.

So the National libraries listened, reached out, at least at first. British Library, Library of Congress, Biblioteque Nationale, Kungliga Biblioteket – they all listened and heard and did their best to commiserate.

But as is the nature of all beings, even those made of stone and concrete, over time, they became less willing to listen, less quick to commiserate. After all, they’d heard it all before.

Again. And again. And again.

So the voices, one by one, fell silent, and the Royal Library of Denmark felt even more alone.

More unloved.

More cranky.

* * *

Then one night, when the Royal Library of Denmark was feeling more unloved than ever, there was an answer.

Gruff but young. Another one of those who had a bare handful of centuries to their name. Free. Easy. Familiar, in both senses of the word.

The Library of Congress.

The Royal Library of Denmark never understood why the people of the United States of America chose to name their national library after one of their governing bodies, rather than their nation, but it wasn’t theirs to question why.

They were just grateful to be heard. A voice reaching back across the ocean, through the night.

_You’ve done this before. Survived just fine._

That wasn’t what the Royal Library of Denmark wanted to hear. They wanted sympathy, not truth.

_Yes, but that was with a library my age. This… this is a newcomer! Not even two hundred years old yet! What am I supposed to do with them?_

_What we always do. What the humans ask._

_But they don’t know what they’re asking!_

_They never do. Doesn’t mean they won’t ask anyway._

This conversation wasn’t going the way the Royal Library of Denmark wanted it to. An angry silence was sent back across the ocean.

The Library of Congress chose to take no notice.

Impudent upstart.

_I know you’re out there. I know you’re upset. Change isn’t easy. But it is possible._

A huff broke the silence.

_It is._ the Library of Congress insisted. _Look, you took in the Copenhagen University Library just a few years ago, yes?_

_And it was too much! That should have been enough for another several centuries, not… all this, too!_ the Royal Library of Denmark protested.

_But you survived it._ the Library of Congress continued on, unperturbed. _And the two of you are one library now, yes? Whole and strong?_

A reluctant _Yes._ They hadn’t been happy about it. It hadn’t felt good, to be asked to grow so quickly. But they’d done it.

Both of them.

_Then it will be all right this time too. At least it can be. If you let it._

A thoughtful silence then, _I suppose you’re right._ Then, more enthusiastically, _Yes, you’re right! The humans will do what they will anyway and… it’s time for a change. I’ve felt a little stiff these last few years, a little unsettled with the extremes. Trying to preserve the past and the future all at once. It would be nice to have some balance. We could learn a lot from each other._

_And the people…_ the Library of Congress added.

_Yes, the people._ The Royal Library of Denmark was happy at the thought of all the children, running around the stacks again, all the adults finding just what they needed or wanted. While, yes, they all, child and adult alike, certainly had their moments, and could wreak havoc on the blessed orderliness of a library, still, at the same time, they also provided a life that couldn’t be denied.

The sigh that ran through the stacks once again sounded like a the wind, but this time, the humans who heard it simply smiled without knowing why, quietly sharing in the joy the Royal Library of Denmark now felt about the upcoming merger.

It would, indeed, be all right.

**Author's Note:**

> ##### Hope you enjoyed this look at the merger! (And hope that it goes smoothly in real life as well.)
> 
> ##### Thank you so much for the background material! It helped me to pull a lovely story across that I otherwise would have had no idea how to write.
> 
> ##### Happy Hollydays!!!
> 
> ##### Yule Goat to be Named Laters


End file.
